Unbeknownst to Me, I am Secretly Dating the Emperor - Chapter 112

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 112
Count Renkels had been Ibeta’s etiquette instructor.
Given his connections and his status as the head of a noble house with a long pedigree, he made an ideal choice for a chaperone.
Bes’s recommendation was sound.
Everything would have been perfect, except for the fact that I was here.
Harper, startled by the revelation, crossed both arms to form an X.
Rosina’s eyebrows rose as if to express her discomfort.
“Count Renkels is certainly wonderful, but would it be all right if we suggested someone else instead?”
Legia ventured carefully to propose an alternative.
Only Bes and Ibeta seemed bewildered by the strange atmosphere.
I had only asked the attendants not to let me cross paths with them, and I had never mentioned that Count Renkels was my aunt for fear that Ibeta’s lessons might become even slightly uncomfortable.
Yet, as children raised to read the room, they seemed to have sensed that there was some difficult history between Count Renkels and me.
Bes looked up at me with a dejected expression.
“I’m sorry.”
Bes apologized with her spirits thoroughly dampened.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
I deliberately lightened my tone and gave a brief explanation of the family matter.
“The thing is, Count Renkels is my aunt. We don’t have contact because of family circumstances, so I didn’t mention it separately. My relationship with Count Renkels isn’t a bad one.”
It’s the previous Count Renkels whom I dislike.
The reason my aunt and I cut off contact was simply that she kept trying to reconcile my mother with the previous Count Renkels.
“So you don’t need to look so serious about it.”
The other young ladies seemed to know only the barest hints passed down through the lower servants; they didn’t grasp the full picture.
Their expressions remained grave nonetheless.
“Really?”
Given their hesitation, I gave them a brief outline of my parents’ love story.
To suggest that there was nothing quite so dramatic to it.
Fortunately, to young sensibilities, love that transcended status seemed rather romantic, and the somber mood lifted almost at once.
“How wonderful.”
“Truly.”
“It’s like something out of a romance novel.”
I watched the five of them as they offered their various comments of appreciation, then added one final remark.
“If Count Renkels consents, I believe he would be the best choice as Ibeta’s chaperone.”
“You really think so?”
“Yes!”
I answered firmly to reassure Ibeta.
“Then…”
Ibeta hesitated before speaking again.
‘She must be about to ask Count Renkels to be her chaperone.’
Ibeta was rather shy.
Count Renkels was indeed well-suited to be asked as a chaperone.
“Will you help me prepare for my debutante ball even if you’re not my chaperone?”
“That’s a wonderful idea.”
But what came next wasn’t what I’d expected.
I had already given my affirmative answer before fully registering what Ibeta had said.
“Thank you!”
When Ibeta broke into a broad smile, it became awkward to correct myself.
“Actually, the debutante preparations are quite rushed, and the other young ladies have agreed to stay at the Separate Palace to help, so I’d be so happy if you were there too.”
Ibeta chattered on, then seemed to realize she was making an abrupt request and hurried to add,
“If you’re busy, you can just come by sometimes.”
I had always been weak to things that were cute.
And Ibeta was undeniably cute.
“I’m not busy.”
I readily accepted the arrangement to stay at the Separate Palace.
‘When else would I ever get to live in the Imperial Palace?’
The more important the building, the closer it was to the center of the Palace, which had the added benefit of dramatically reducing commute time.
The staff at the Separate Palace were kind even to me, a stranger in their midst.
After work, spending time with Ibeta and Bes, and occasionally the attendants, proved to be quite enjoyable.
Yet during those longer hours with Ibeta, I discovered something new.
The Temple was still reaching out its claws toward Ibeta.
* * *
Edwin was throwing himself into his work to make up for the slack time that had stretched on far too long.
His already-short sleep had dwindled even further with the workload.
Yet the news that Lina had moved into the Separate Palace, just as he’d hoped, stirred his ambition anew.
The guards and servants stationed at the Separate Palace were all the Emperor’s people.
There, he could meet Lina without worrying about rumors.
Though for now he remained shackled to his office, unable to spare the time to visit her.
Still, merely being in the same space lifted Edwin’s spirits.
There was considerable distance between the Emperor’s quarters and the Separate Palace where Lina was, but that hardly mattered.
Edwin skimmed through a report while speaking simultaneously.
“So the rumor was a joint effort of the Western nobles and the Temple…”
He had already grasped the general source long ago, though it had taken time to uncover the precise framework.
At first, he’d thought the Temple and the Western nobles were moving separately with the same objective, their paths merely converging.
The West and the Temple had always maintained close ties.
The Temple styled itself as benevolent while being operated according to the preferences of the nobles who provided its primary revenue.
The Western nobles had approved of the Temple’s approach.
But upon closer inspection, the movements of both sides appeared far more organic.
They weren’t just overlapping—they seemed to be walking the same path together.
At the center of it all stood Count Harkan, second-in-command among the Western nobles and father to a High Priest.
Edwin quickly finished scanning the rest of the report.
It was the section noting suspicious entries had been discovered in the ledgers submitted recently from the West.
Since the late reign of the previous Emperor, expenditures for items like weapons and mercenary hire had been held at subtly elevated levels.
A single year’s figures would have been difficult to question, but the aggregate across the entire period was a number too significant to ignore.
The alliance between the Temple and the West—Edwin’s instincts sharpened like a blade being honed.
“Keep watch to determine whether this is a temporary strategic alliance or if they’re already in the same boat. Pay particular attention to the West’s movements.”
The influence of the Minos Religion in the Empire was absolute.
Many emperors had failed in their attempts to bring the Temple to heel, and as a result its power had only grown.
If the West and the Temple were truly allied, it would be easier to target the West.
Kyle moved to relay Edwin’s orders to the Blue Hawk operatives deployed in the West, then added something as if it had just occurred to him.
Though less urgent than the matter of the West and the Temple, it was something Edwin would want to know.
“It seems the Crown Princess has taken a liking to Everett Rohas. She appears willing to meet with him further. And Everett Rohas himself blushes to the ears and becomes flustered whenever the Crown Princess is mentioned.”
“Good. If possible, arrange for them to continue meeting in secret.”
Everett Rohas couldn’t be the only candidate yet.
“And suggest to the other marriage proposal candidates that they meet with her once more as well.”
There was more than personal intention behind this.
He recalled how the West had been unusually eager to push forward one particular marriage proposal candidate.
The primary use of Monster Byproducts, Bellot’s specialty, was the forging of weapons.
He planned to make it seem as though the Crown Princess’s marriage proposal candidate had yet to be chosen, using it as bait.
With luck, a small lure would catch a very large fish.
* * *
Most of the Temple’s attempts to extend its reach were deflected by Kyle’s iron defense.
Yet there was one hand reaching out that was difficult to swat away.
The Temple had discovered that Ibeta was learning to wield Sacred Power from the Palace Mage, and began loudly proclaiming this as an insult to the Minos Religion’s saint.
With mages supposedly seeking to degrade the Temple, even the head of the Magic Tower found himself being harangued, leaving him clearly at a loss.
The Temple forcefully demanded that Ibeta be sent to them at once.
The Palace responded with consistent silence.
Thereupon the Temple, as if making one final all-out assault, presented a compromise.
They would dispatch a High Priest to teach the method of wielding Sacred Power.
The strategy was transparent—a foot in the door—but stopping them from sending a High Priest to the Palace, rather than demanding Ibeta come to them, proved impossible.
The Temple was exceedingly skilled at foisting its own faults onto others, and was currently working to manufacture public opinion that the Emperor was confining Ibeta.
In the end, instruction in Ibeta’s Sacred Power training was transferred to a junior High Priest dispatched by the Temple.
I learned late of the change in who oversaw Ibeta’s Sacred Power education, and my worry deepened.
The High Priest would not let this opportunity slip away.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————